Even an experienced speaker
like Guy Kawasaki says, “Moderating a panel is
deceptively hard--harder, in fact, than keynoting."
This blog offers tips and examples on how to be a better
panel discussion moderator, with advice from The Eloquent Woman's Guide to Moderating Panels and speaker coach Denise Graveline.

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

4 surprising things I've learned about moderating panels

If you're one of the people who thinks of panel moderation as a straightforward and clear-cut task, I admire you. My experience as a seasoned panel moderator is the opposite: Anything can, and often does, happen. All that varied experience has helped me glean some surprising skill sets, things I've learned as a panel moderator that I wouldn't have guessed I needed when I started out. They include:

Panel moderation isn't just for beginning speakers: Moderating has at least on thing in common with being a speaker on a panel: It's an ideal stepping stone for a speaker starting out. But panels sometimes require deft on-the-spot management that only a seasoned speaker can bring.